King of Prussia data center fight paused by developer’s lawsuit

A Main Line developer looking to build multiple data centers in Montgomery County now has more time to make his case for a five-property campus near King of Prussia.

And residents who oppose the projects — who had been preparing for a potential vote on the plans this week — must now wait to learn whether the complex will be built in their neighborhood.

A Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge on Wednesday temporarily prohibited Upper Merion from making decisions about any data centers proposed by Brian O’Neill. The township Board of Supervisors had been set to vote Thursday on the five proposed data centers totaling 4.6 million square feet.

The developer had asked for an extension from Upper Merion Township until Sept. 30, saying his team needed more time to respond to dozens of township review letters related to the projects. In emails, O’Neill said township officials made clear they would not allow more time.

“It is clear … that the township’s board of supervisors intends to decline the offer of extension and instead proceed to deny the applications,” O’Neill wrote in the lawsuit.

On Wednesday, the developer sued Upper Merion Township, its board of supervisors, and its planning commission, saying they violated his legal right to an extension and treated him unfairly during the review process.

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The judge’s ruling ordered that township officials halt certain proceedings and not make any decisions about the data center plans until after a court hearing scheduled for next week.

Before the lawsuit, the Upper Merion Township Planning Commission had been scheduled to discuss and make recommendations to the Upper Merion Township Board of Supervisors on two of O’Neill’s five data center plans on Wednesday. The planning commission had previously voted not to recommend approval of O’Neill’s three other proposals.

In a separate meeting on Thursday, the township supervisors had been set to vote on whether to approve the five data center plans.

O’Neill’s team declined to discuss the projects with the planning commission on Wednesday, citing the lawsuit.

“We are not making a presentation tonight consistent with the court’s order,” said Edmund J. Campbell, an attorney for the developer. “I will ask to be excused as I don’t believe my presence is needed, pursuant to the court’s order.”

With Campbell’s exit, the township planning commission opened the floor to dozens of local residents, all but one of whom was opposed to the projects.

They expressed concerns about light, noise, and sound pollution; water use; the impact on the power grid and electricity prices; mental and physical health impacts; and overall quality of life in the suburb. Some said they were angry with O’Neill and his team, with a few citing a recent 6ABC interview in which O’Neill said opponents wanted to “fight for the sake of the fight” and were against development that was “right for the community.”

Some residents disagreed with those statements.

“Judging by the past five months or so [of] our community standing together in solidarity against these horrific proposals, this is clearly not right for our community,” Upper Merion resident Zachary Davis said Wednesday.

O’Neill has said his Upper Merion data centers would “change the world for the better” through AI-powered biotech that would complement his existing life-sciences complex, Discovery Labs.

The developer has said the data centers would operate on a closed-loop system, requiring no outside water, and provide their own power. They’d emit little light and noise, according to O’Neill, and include billions of dollars worth of emissions controls.

O’Neill’s team last week released an economic impact study that says the Upper Merion centers would result in more than 10,000 jobs during its construction and then generate more than $55 million a year in local tax revenue.

O’Neill’s efforts come as data-center opponents’ ire toward him has intensified.

The animosity was on display last week at a zoning hearing board meeting in nearby Plymouth Township, where O’Neill is trying to build a 2-million-square-foot data center on the outskirts of Conshohocken.

» READ MORE: Rowdy residents at Plymouth Township zoning meeting draw rebukes as they push back on big data center plan

In recent weeks, the developer has sparred with Plymouth Township officials, and filed a legal challenge to the zoning ordinance there. News of the moves prompted a “hell no” from Gov. Josh Shapiro, who had previously encouraged data center development in the commonwealth.

A date has not been set for the next Plymouth Township meeting, though officials indicated it would occur sometime in September.

In Upper Merion, officials said late Wednesday that the monthly board of supervisors business meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday was still on. Other issues, not related to data centers, were on the agenda.

As of Thursday morning, a hearing on the data center lawsuit was scheduled for Monday.

This is a developing story and may be updated.